Sanstale
by Cazuki
Summary: Hey. Kid. You ever wonder how I ended up like this? Like, well, me? Heh, probably not, but I'll tell ya anyway. An AU where Sans is the main protagonist. Loosely based around the original Undertale Universe, with some modifications. Rated T for character death, depression and totally terrible puns. (R&R)
1. The End

**Hello everyone! Cazuki here with a new story, this time based in the Undertale universe! Just a quick disclaimer. None of these characters are my creation and are copyright of Toby Fox. Anyway, see you at the bottom of the page.**

* * *

 _welp, i guess that's it._ Sans thought as he stared up at the ceiling, sitting on the large leather couch. He'd slept in more comfortable places, but it couldn't exactly be helped. Today was a special day after all.

Today, all the monsters of the Underground had been freed, and by a kid no less. That kid, Frisk, was currently leaning on Sans' right shoulder, their head snuggled into Sans' blue jacket, fast asleep. Three days ago, Frisk had dropped into the Underground from the top of Mount Ebott. During those three short days they'd been in the Underground, Frisk'd been nothing but friendly to every single monster they'd met. Sans still found it amazing that not a single monster was killed, even though the kid knew that they could've easily defeated them if they so wished.

On the third day, Frisk came to the end of their journey; at Asgore's throne room. While everyone else, especially Papyrus, was worried sick that the two really would fight, Sans himself hadn't been concerned. After all, he reasoned, both of them were too fluffy and too kind to actually fight to the death. Nevertheless, when Papyrus called everyone in to stop the fight, Sans had come without comment. Though it wasn't like he could do much to stop them anyway. Sans was a gifted teleporter, but apart from that, his magic and physical abilities were severely lacking. He could barely even lift a bone, unlike his brother, who constantly berated him for his lack of training.

It wasn't like it mattered now anyway. Everyone was alive, and they were all huddled up for their first night on the surface.

Before leaving the Underground, Asgore issued a proclamation that all the monsters were finally free and that they should pack for a grand migration onto the surface the next morning. Meanwhile, Asgore, Toriel, Frisk, Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus and Sans had all gone to the surface as a sort of scouting party. Papyrus had been the one to find the old house on the side of Mount Ebott. It was unknown who had lived in the house before, but it was clear that it had been abandoned for quite some time, considering the amount of dust everywhere. Sans hadn't cared. He'd slept in weirder places and at the time he was practically dead on his feet.

Now it was way past nightfall and everyone was gathered in the living room of the house. Toriel and Asgore slept on huge armchairs on opposite sides of the room, their heads drooping forward as they dozed. Papyrus laid on the couch, using Sans' thigh bones as a pillow. He was curled into the blanket draped on top of him, snoring lightly. Alphys and Undyne sat in front of the couch, snuggled into one another, breathing silently with big goofy smiles.

Sans observed their peaceful, happy faces and sighed. A part of him felt jealous that he'd played no real part in everyone attaining their happy ending. All he'd done was protect the kid a few times when Papyrus had first met them and keep tabs on them from a distance. The greater part of him, though, decided that that was for the best; Sans had never been the 'hero' type anyway.

Sans sighed again, long and contentedly. Tomorrow was going to be loud and chaotic and he probably wasn't going to get any sleep. He let his eyes droop with familiar drowsiness. Yeah, he could imagine how stressed everyone would get as they helped move stuff out of the Underground. He closed his eyes. It was going to be really fun.

At peace, Sans quietly fell asleep.

* * *

Sans opened his eyes a few seconds later. He woke up staring at the ceiling. For an extended moment, Sans just basked in the small pleasure that was the moments after waking up from a truly restful sleep. Sans sighed, the corners of his mouth upturned slightly as he continued looking up at the ceiling. Images idly flickered through his mind, fuzzy and indistinct, but warm. He must have had a pretty good dream.

Later, Sans heard thudding to his right. He didn't move or respond as a knock sounded from the same place. By now, they were both so used to this morning routine that it seemed blasphemous to even think of altering it.

"BROTHER!" Papyrus called from the other side of the door. "GET UP, LAZYBONES! A HUMAN WON'T CAPTURE THEMSELVES, YOU KNOW!"

Sans smiled. Yep, definitely the same Pap he knew and loved. Sans got ready to respond with a well-timed pun, which would make his brother scream in fake agony and run down the stairs. However, before he could speak, more images appeared in his mind. They were still indistinct, but with each flash they became clearer and more... A painful sting punctured Sans' skull and he grunted loudly. Sadly, it was loud enough for Papyrus to hear.

"SANS? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Papyrus' voice began to leak concern.

Sans frowned. He hated when he made his brother sound like that. "heh, yeah, i'm alright pap. in fact, i'm feeling particularly _humerus_ today."

There was a loud, over-exaggerated groan from the other side of the door. "ARRRGH! SANS, WHEN WILL YOU LEARN THAT WAKING UP WITH PUNS IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH?!"

"but it's not bad for _my_ health bro."

"NO, BUT IT'S BAD FOR _MINE_!" More thudding followed and Sans chuckled. Papyrus liked to think he was above jokes, but he made them just as terribly as Sans did. Sans rolled over to sit upright on his bed. He looked out over his bedroom, absent-mindedly glossing-over the abandoned socks and scattered joke books. Outside the window, snow lined the streets and houses of Snowdin.

As Sans got up to leave, the images from before flashed in his mind again. This time, they were clear enough for Sans to recognize a fuzzy image of Papyrus. Papyrus looked happy, even more than normal, which Sans thought almost impossible. The image quickly disappeared and Sans' skull throbbed with another painful sting. Sans put his hand to his head, trying to nurse the pain. Had he been drinking last night? He remembered going to Grillby's, but he'd only drunk 1 bottle of ketchup; way below his limit. Sans sighed, rubbing his right temple. He must have slept weirdly?

Sans continued on, walking downstairs to see Papyrus dressed in his usual 'battle body' and bright red scarf. Papyrus was particularly excited today, his body quivering slightly in his eagerness to go and reset his puzzles.

"you ready to go?" Sans said calmly, smiling.

"THAT SHOULD BE MY LINE! I WAS READY BEFORE YOU WERE!" Papyrus exclaimed.

"i know just checking." Sans claimed dismissively, opening the front door into the main street of Snowdin. He walked out, Papyrus following him, and together they began to walk to the neighbouring forest and ruins. It would've been quicker for Sans to teleport, but he didn't want to waste the small amount of magic he had and he liked walking in the morning with Papyrus. As they walked, Papyrus started talking about his last 'training' session with Undyne and how Sans should join them sometime and how he was going to change his puzzles so that they would become even more impossible for any human to pass and…

Sans let his brother talk, nodding his head and giving an affirmatory grunt once every little while. It wasn't like Sans was purposefully ignoring his brother. It just felt as if he'd heard this conversation before. Sans' mind wandered, thinking about he was going to do for the day.

 _sleep mostly._ Sans was lazy, he couldn't deny that. But who said being lazy was bad? It wasn't like if he did something, anything would change anyway. _maybe go talk to tori tod-_

Wait, who was 'Tori'? Sans felt another stab of pain in his skull and more images materialized. This time he could make out more faces. He recognized Alphys, Undyne and Asgore, all smiling and laughing. However, there were two faces he didn't remember seeing before. One was of another goat monster, similar to Asgore but smaller and more feminine. A relative? Undyne had mentioned once or twice that Asgore used to have a wife long ago. Maybe that was her? 'Toriel'?

That didn't intrigue him as much as the other mystery figure did. It was a small creature, about the same size as Sans. While Sans couldn't make out any precise facial features, he could tell that the figure was definitely like no monster he'd ever seen before.

It took Sans a moment to notice Papyrus was trying to get his attention. When he finally noticed, Papyrus was leaning in close, the corners of his perma-grin turned down and his eyes forehead slightly crinkled.

"SANS? SANS! COME ON, I'M NOT GOING TO CARRY YOU TO YOUR GUARD POST _AGAIN_. WE'RE AT THE FIRST PUZZLE ALREADY."

"whu-huh?" Sans blundered, the images disappearing while the pain in his head remained. He looked at Papyrus, his brow tilted in confusion.

"THERE YOU ARE! DON'T TELL ME YOU WERE _IGNORING_ THE GREAT PAPYRUS!?"

"eh, ah, no. i was just…"

"JUST?" Papyrus' expression changed from indignant to concerned, his eyes clearly reflecting Sans' confusion.

"just a little _puzzled_."

Sans winked and Papyrus' concern seemed to lessen as he let out an exaggerated groan.

"UGGH. THAT WAS TERRIBLE."

"heh he."

After that, the brothers split ways. Papyrus went to organize one of the puzzles he'd been testing the day before. Sans, meanwhile, was left alone to do as he wished. Sans decided to go and see if his joke-buddy -or 'Toriel', as his subconscious reminded him- was around. He felt like he needed to laugh a little right now. As he approached the meeting place where he and his punny friend normally met, he heard a loud creaking noise. Sans froze, looking up ahead to see someone far in the distance, right next to the door he normally sat against to talk to his friend.

Sans could tell the figure was small. No taller than him, probably. The pain that had previously stabbed into his head suddenly began to burn brighter. The figure in the distance hadn't noticed Sans yet, and was slowly progressing forwards like a scared little animal. Sans smiled despite the pain. Looked like the little guy was new around here. Sans decided to introduce himself, teleporting behind the figure and hiding behind the trees. Now that he was closer, Sans could see that the figure was like no other monster he'd ever seen. The figure wore a bright blue and purple striped jumper. The image of the mysterious small figure reappeared in Sans' mind. Sans grunted quietly, the intensity of his skull's throbbing increasing.

 _why?_

Sans slowly advanced towards the kid, taking silent steps as he slipped a whoopee cushion into his hand from his jacket pocket. A classic.

The image recurred again, this time with a name. Frisk.

 _why?_

The kid stopped at the gate Papyrus had built, seemingly confused. Sans took his position behind them. Pain flared through his skull, almost causing him to fall onto the ground.

 _why do I feel like… i've done this before?_ Sans wondered before he started to speak.

"hey kid, don't you know how to gr-". Suddenly, he was interrupted.

"Why, hello, Sans! I was just wondering when you'd get here."

Sans froze and that was all it took.

In the next moment, the kid had turned around, slipping a knife out from their sleeve and burying it deep in Sans' chest. Sans coughed, instinctively grabbing the knife's handle as ketchup began to run down its sides. He collapsed onto his knees. The pupils in his eyes sockets contracted and his mind raced with all the images he had seen before. He realized now that they were too real to be from a dream. They _were_ real. What had happened?

Sans looked up at the kid in front of him. Their face looked nothing like the kid's that he remembered. This wasn't Frisk.

"who…?"

"Shh." The kid put a finger to Sans' mouth, their face turned up in a wolfish grin. Their eyes burned with pleasure and excitement. "Just save your strength, for now, and listen. The name's Chara, and while I'm sure you're just _dying_ to know who I am, you just need to know one thing."

Sans could feel his soul threatening to split apart. It wouldn't be long before he turned to dust. Pain coursed through his system before he became numb. He didn't feel the hands on his skull, but he knew that he was being forced to look at this murderous kid as he died.

 _wait, no. this can't… we were finally free._

"You just need to know that you and this whole world are now my new play-things. Your brother too. Oh, I'm gonna have some fun with him."

 _don't you… papyrus… don't..._

Sans didn't know what kind of face he was making, but it must have reflected his anger, because Chara chuckled. "Haha. That's it. Show me your anger, your defiance. It'll make it so much better when I break you…" Sans coughed again, feeling the lower half of his body begin to fade away. "It looks like you have to get going soon." Sans' vision began to dim, the last thing he saw being Chara's cruel grin. "See you again in a lit-." Sans couldn't hear them as his senses fully numbed.

 _papyrus… papyrus… don't kill… him._

Sans felt himself turn to dust.

* * *

 **Hello again. Okay yeah, so I hope you like the story so far. Feel free to give me constructive criticism, or whatever, in the comments. Share the love! Credit to Harry Wakamatsu for creating the 'Monster Friend' font that I used to create the title card and my thanks to my beta readers Kessie-Louise and Mrs S. Phinx for helping me refine the story. Keep tuning in folks, because the story is just beginning! ~Caz.**


	2. Waking Up

**Notes at the bottom.**

* * *

A moment later, Sans awoke. He took a deep, gulping breath, like someone who'd been drowning and had come up for air. He could feel tears prickling painfully at the corners of his eye-sockets. Blue flame covered the entire left side of his face, springing uncontrollably from his left eye-socket.

Before he could take a moment to observe his surroundings, Sans snapped into a sitting position. He groped his chest, panicking, searching for the handle of the knife that had stabbed him before; only to find nothing there. Sans looked down at his chest, and still there was nothing. Just clothes and bones.

"huuuuh…" Sans let out a ragged sigh, trembling. The blue flames dimmed slightly, receding so that only his left eye-socket glowed with their ethereal light. He flopped back down again, shaking his skull to fight off the tears that still threatened to fall. His left hand still grasped his white shirt, feeling the rapid beating of his soul.

Sans stared up at the ceiling, breathing deeply to try and calm himself. After a few moments, his thoughts were coherent enough to broach the subject.

 _i just died… right?_

Images flashed in front of Sans' eyes. An image of a kid in a blue and purple jumper. A knife in his chest, with ketchup running down the sides. A murderous smile. And a name; Chara. Unlike before, the images were crystal clear, each detail recorded in grisly, horrifying detail. Sans recalled the agonizing pain of his soul splitting apart into a hundred broken shards. He remembered the numbness as his bones turned to dust. Sans shivered, suddenly feeling much colder than any day in Snowdin could have ever made him feel.

 _Thum-thum-thum-thum._

Sans tensed at the sound of footsteps to his right approaching his bedroom door, his pupils contracting and his left eye glowing brighter. His instinct, forced into overdrive by confusion and distress, screamed at him to teleport as far away as possible. Sans mentally reached inside himself, about to activate his magic reserves and teleport when a loud voice boomed through the door.

"BROTHER! GET UP, LAZYBONES! A HUMAN WON'T CAPTURE THEMSELVES, YOU KNOW!"

Sans stopped himself immediately, sitting up to attention again.

 _papyrus! it's just papyrus! thank god._

As Sans sat up, a sting punctured his skull, less painful than before but still enough to make Sans dizzy for a few seconds and grunt in discomfort.

"grggh!"

"SANS? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Papyrus' voice, just as before, was filled with concern. Sans paused for an extended moment, realization dawning.

It was all the same. Sans darted his eye-sockets across the room, taking note of every little detail. Everything was in the exact same place as the previous night. Even his fur-lined jacket, normally thrown haphazardly onto his desk, was folded neatly on top of it. The same way Papyrus had left it the night before after washing it.

The pain in Sans' skull intensified and he grunted again, louder. Papyrus called through the door again.

"SANS! ARE YOU HAVING A NIGHTMARE?! DO YOU NEED ME TO COME IN THERE AND SAVE YOU?!"

Under any other circumstance, Sans would have smiled at Papyrus' sweet yet confused idea and told Papyrus a pun. However, Sans definitely didn't want Papyrus to see him like this. While he was sure his brother would do everything possible to help him, Sans didn't want Papyrus to worry. He hated it when Papyrus worried about him.

He unclasped his hand from his chest, moving it up to his temple to rub and try and calm the pain slightly. He forced the light in his left eye-socket to dim completely, taking deep breaths. He steadied his voice.

"nah, i'm alright bro. just… fell off the bed and hit my head a little. don't worry i'm fine."

Sans thought the excuse was thin at best, with the lack of a pun making it seem doubly suspicious. Luckily, however, it seemed to satisfy Papyrus.

"OH...OKAY! MEET ME DOWNSTAIRS WHEN YOU FEEL A BIT BETTER! I'LL TAKE A LOOK AT IT BEFORE WE LEAVE!"

Before Sans could speak again, he heard Papyrus' footsteps retreating from the bedroom door.

Sans let out the breath he'd been holding, relaxing his shoulders. He suddenly felt very tired and guilty. Not only had he lied straight to Papyrus' face for the first time in a long time, but the pain in his head wasn't going away. The pain lessened, continuing as a dull throb, like a headache. Skeletons weren't even meant to _have_ headaches.

Sans slowly, carefully, got out of bed, trying to stop another bout of dizziness. He knew he had a bit more time now that Papyrus thought he was a bit out of it. He took advantage of it as he slowly made his way to his desk to put on his jacket. At the mention of time, Sans' mind filled with new information, new questions and new confusion.

The first, and most important question was why he wasn't dead? There was no doubt that he'd died before. After that other came... Why was everything the same as it had been a couple of hours before, down to Papyrus' exact words? Why didn't Papyrus seem to remember Frisk or that the barrier should have been destroyed? Who exactly was Chara and what had he done with Frisk?

Sans groaned quietly to himself, slipping on his jacket. He rubbed his face with one sleeve to remove the almost-tears. The more he thought about those questions, the more puzzle-pieces appeared. The more pieces that appeared, the more complicated the question. It was a vicious and unsolvable cycle. The only thing that Sans could theorize was that _somehow_ all that had happened over the past three days had been seemingly erased from everyone's memory. Except for his and maybe Chara's. Like some sort of RESET.

 _but that's impossible._ no _amount of magic could ever send someone back in time._

But clearly it was possible, or at least it was highly likely to be. In fact, if Sans was thinking about it the right way, time had already been reset twice; once when they'd escaped the Underground and again after he'd been… killed.

Sans opened his bedroom door and sluggishly made his way downstairs. As before, Papyrus stood by the front door. He looked a little less enthusiastic than last time though, possibly as a residual effect from his earlier worry. On seeing Sans, Papyrus walked up to him, beaming as normal, but with his eyebrows knitted and a serious glint to his eyes.

"AH, YOU CAME DOWN! AT LAST!" Papyrus put one gloved hand on Sans' right shoulder. "LET ME LOOK AT YOUR SKULL."

Before Sans could respond, Papyrus had already spun Sans around gently, carefully examining the back of Sans' skull for any obvious marks or cracks. The edges of Sans' mouth upturned slightly at his brother's gentle poking and prodding. He always thought that Papyrus was too concerned about other people and never concerned enough for himself, but he couldn't deny that it made him feel nice when Papyrus fussed over his health.

A short time later, the prodding stopped and Sans felt Papyrus retract his gloved hands from Sans' skull. Sans spun himself back around.

"everything lookin' good back there doc?" He said, smiling. Papyrus nodded, his eyes and eyebrows relaxed.

"THERE'S NO DAMAGE I CAN SEE. HONESTLY, SANS, YOU SHOULD TAKE MORE CARE OF HOW YOU SLEEP. BAD SLEEP POSTURE CAN LEAD TO ACCIDENTS, YOU KNOW."

"heh i know. i'll work on it." That seemed to satisfy Papyrus, who nodded and spun around to face the front door.

 _You just need to know that you and this whole world are now my new play-things._

Chara's words replayed in Sans' head. Sans shuddered. His bones stop moving and his soul started beating frantically. It felt as if he was paralyzed by a sudden, impossibly deep fear. Papyrus opened the door, revealing the main street.

"ARE YOU READY TO GO, SA-?" Papyrus turned back to see Sans, still standing in the living-room. His pupils were contracted, with faint traces of blue flame flashing within his left eye. The edges of his mouth downturned and his shoulders were tensed. "BROTHER?"

Sans jerked himself back into reality, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself again.

"yeah, pap?"

Papyrus frowned. "Sans, if there is something bothering you, you must tell me. AFTER ALL, THE _GREAT PAPYRUS_ CAN ALWAYS HELP WITH WHATEVER PROBLEM YOU ARE HAVING!"

Sans paused. Could he really tell Papyrus what had happened to him before? About him being killed and being terrified to meet the monster who'd killed him again?

 _no. i can't. even if he believed me, he'd just go and find them anyway._

He sighed.

"nah, pap, i'm… fine. i think i'm just _bone-tired_ today." Sans rubbed the back of his skull with his right hand, shrugging. Papyrus frowned more, though Sans couldn't tell whether it was because of the pun or the excuse. Papyrus sighed loudly, huffing at Sans.

"IF YOU'RE WELL ENOUGH TO MAKE TERRIBLE PUNS, YOU SHOULD BE WELL ENOUGH TO RESET YOUR PUZZLES. BUT… I'LL ALLOW IT!"

Papyrus spun himself back to the front door, one finger pointed at the ceiling as he posed dramatically. The wind from outside created a breeze that made Papyrus' scarf flutter slightly. "NYEH HEH HEH. I, _THE GREAT PAPYRUS_ , WILL GO AND RESET THE PUZZLES BY MYSELF! BROTHER; WAIT FOR ME! FOR TODAY, I AM CERTAIN THAT I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN AND BECOME THE MOST BELOVED MONSTER IN THE WHOLE UNDERGROUND!"

Sans smiled, rolling his eyes in his skull. His brother had a flare for dramatics.

"good luck with that bro."

With his speech finished, Papyrus started walking out into Snowdin's main street.

 _Your brother too._

Sans' pupils contracted, the recollected words making Sans's dread intensify further. He thought his bones had gone cold to the touch. Instinctively, Sans reached out his hand for Papyrus' scarf as he began to leave, grabbing it tightly. Papyrus stopped with a confused hum, turning back to look at Sans in utter confusion.

"SANS?"

Sans opened his mouth. He tried to tell Papyrus he couldn't leave. That if he did, he'd be killed by the human he so desperately wanted to capture. He knew that because he himself had already been killed once. But he closed his mouth, paused for a moment, and opened it again. "y-you know what? i want to see you set up your puzzles today."

Papyrus turned fully around, his pupils glistening with excitement.

"WHAT, YOU MEAN IT?!" Papyrus started trembling with happiness. "ARE YOU SURE?! YOU'RE NORMALLY NOT THAT INTERESTED!"

Sans forced out a chuckle, feeling his mouth tremble slightly as he made himself smile at Papyrus. "of course i'm serious bro. i want to see how impossible the _great papyrus'_ puzzles really are."

Papyrus made a squealing noise, running over to Sans. He picked Sans up and hugged him, twirling around in a small circle before putting him down again.

 _is he really_ this _excited about me seeing his puzzles?_

An image flashed in Sans's mind of when Papyrus had met Frisk for the first time. He'd looked excited then too. Sadness seeped into Sans' mind before he brushed it away, maintaining his smile. "you ready to go?"

"I ALREADY ASKED YOU THAT! YES!" Papyrus exclaimed back, marching to the front door. Sans followed behind, grinning.

"sorry, pap, guess i'm a bit," Sans made one hand into a fist, knocking it onto his skull. A hollow knocking sound reverberated through his skull. " _empty-headed_ lately."

Papyrus groaned, walking out into Snowdin. "THAT WAS EVEN WORSE THAN THE LAST ONE!"

Sans chuckled, walking out behind him.

As he closed the door of their house, he sighed, his brow creasing.

 _no-one's going to hurt him. i'll just go with him and warn him when i see the kid. yeah, and then we'll find out some way to deal with this._

Sans knew he probably couldn't get rid of Chara alone. But maybe, if he could at least stop Papyrus getting hurt, they could find a way to deal with that genocidal maniac in Frisk's body. Together.

Sans turned back around to Papyrus and together they walked to the ruins, both ready and unaware of what was going to happen next.

* * *

 **Hi again. So yeah, here's chapter 2 of the story. Hope everyone is enjoying this story at the moment. Stay tuned for the next chapter, where something definitely exciting is going to happen! In other news, I have been in contact with some people and may have some exciting news to announce in the next few weeks... hopefully. Anyway, until then, don't forget to rate and review and thanks again to my lovely beta-readers. ~Caz. P.S. Thank you Fontguy for making me realize I'd forgotten the casing. Hope it looks a bit better now.**


	3. Bones to Dust

**Look at the bottom of the page for an exciting announcement!**

* * *

 _how long is this walk?_ Sans thought, growing increasingly frustrated.

The journey to the Ruins from Snowdin was a short distance; possibly only a ten-minute walk. Normally, that distance was either a blink of an eye or a short conversation for Sans, depending on how he was traveling. However, this time it felt like aeons were passing with each step. Snow fell around them lightly, covering their tracks as they walked.

To his right, Papyrus was summarizing what he'd done yesterday. Just like everything else thus far, that was the same too.

"-THEN UNDYNE SAID THAT NEXT WEEK WE COULD GO AND LOOK AROUND WATERFALL FOR SOME NEW SPICES TO ADD TO THE SAUCE. I, FOR ONE, THINK IT'S A WONDERFUL IDEA! I MUST START EXPANDING MY REPERTOIRE OUT OF DRIED ECHO FLOWER LEAVES! NOT THAT THEY'RE BAD OR ANYTHING OF THE SORT!"

Sans grunted in affirmation, barely half-listening to Papyrus.

This time, it wasn't just déjà vu that diverted his attention. As they walked through the snowy woodland that lead to the entrance of the Ruins, Sans scrolled his head slowly from left to right, carefully examining every dark corner, peeking behind every tree. Anywhere that a small kid could hide. It was likely that Chara was still near the entrance of the Ruins. However, considering that both Sans and Papyrus had been later leaving than last time, and that Chara may not be restricted by the same rules Sans seemed to be, it paid to be careful.

The task was even more frustrating as Sans knew he had to keep his actions and thoughts covert so that Papyrus didn't notice and get worried again, or worse, tell Sans to go back while he went on alone. Sans strained his eyes, glaring at every shadow as he and Papyrus continued walking. He shrugged his shoulders, trying to relax their tenseness. It helped a little, though his bones set again shortly after.

Sans closed his eyes, taking deep breaths.

 _it's going to be fine, no-one can get near him with-_

"Hey, Skelebros!"

"nahah!" Sans yelped, his eyes snapping open. Knives were the first things he saw. His pupils contracted, his left eye sparking into blue flame. He instinctively jumped towards Papyrus. "you! where did yo-"

Papyrus shouted, interrupting Sans. "SANS! YOU'RE BEING RUDE TO DOGGO!"

Sans paused. "dog…go?" Sans ripped his focus away from the knives the figure was holding to see that it was indeed Doggo, the almost-blind guardsdog. Sans's left eye glowed a bit brighter and he blushed slightly in embarrassment. Was he really that jumpy? "oh…yeah…sorry doggo."

Doggo smiled, wagging his tail and looking at Sans with squinted eyes. "Not a problem! Meant I got a good look at you."

Papyrus sighed. "I'M SORRY ABOUT MY BROTHER. HE FELL OFF THE BED THIS MORNING AND HASN'T BEEN HIMSELF SINCE. ARE YOU GOING TO YOUR GUARD-POST?"

Doggo turned his head to Papyrus, looking straight past him.

"As always! Just going to get some dog-treats first though. That big dumb dog ate the last of them without telling me!"

"IS THAT SO? WELL, I HOPE YOU SUCCEED IN YOUR QUEST! ME AND SANS ARE GOING TO PATROL FOR HUMANS NOW."

"Same old, same old then. Well," Doggo began walking towards Snowdin, careful not to run into any trees or trip on any hidden rocks, "I'll see you bros later!" As Doggo stalked off, Papyrus turned to Sans, the corners of his mouth downturned in a frown. He stared at Sans, keeping silent.

"…"

Sans shivered, his left eye dimming before going out entirely. He hated it when Papyrus got quiet.

"sorry. i thought he was…" Sans dropped off.

"WAS WHAT?" Papyrus knitted his brow.

"i thought he was… a bit _beastly_." Sans shrugged, tilting his head and putting on a smile. A moment passed. Then another. Sans started sweating. _great, is he suspicious now?_

Suddenly, Papyrus groaned, face-palming himself. "SANS, THAT WAS DREADFUL!"

Sans smiled wider. "sorry bro, i know that pun was _pawful_. to _tail_ you the truth, i think they're getting worse, _dog_."

"UGH! SANS! STOP, PLEASE. WE HAVE SERIOUS MATTERS TO ATTEND TO!" Papyrus turned away from Sans, walking towards the Ruins again. Sans grinned, following closely behind. The Ruins were close now; maybe only a minute or so away. Snow continued to fall, getting slightly heavier now.

* * *

As they finally approached the Ruins, Sans shivered, bringing his arms around his body. He didn't know if he was doing it for warmth or for comfort.

 _it's okay… it's okay… no need to be… scared._

Sans's thoughts did nothing to comfort him, but he forced himself to continue forward, keeping up with Papyrus. He looked around. Still no Chara.

Papyrus stopped, turning to Sans and grinning. "SO, BROTHER. WHICH OF MY BRILLIANT, UNSOLVABLE PUZZLES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE FIRST?"

Sans put on a smile, shrugging his shoulders, trying to look as carefree as normal.

"don't mind, bro."

"THAT WAS NOT HELPFUL IN THE LEAST." Papyrus spun on his heel, turning towards the entrance of the Ruins. "OH WELL, I GUESS I'LL SHOW YOU HOW I'VE DRASTICALLY IMPROVED SOME OF MY OLD-…?" Papyrus suddenly stopped in the middle of his speech, something which rarely ever happened, looking over at the Ruins entrance.

Sans felt a cold sweat run down his spine and followed Papyrus' line of sight to see a small, indistinct figure in the distance. Sans's soul started beating erratically and suddenly he felt like running away as far as his teleport could take him.

Chara...

 _i have to get him out of here. now!_ Sans though as he began to panic, looking desperately for a way to get Papyrus away from what he knew, all too well, was imminent danger. He said the first thing that came to mind.

"hey, bro, what you looking at? you know that's just a rock right?"

"HMM… I'M NOT SO SURE. I KNOW THAT 99.9% OF THE TIME I SEE A SHAPE IN THE DISTANCE IT TURNS OUT TO BE A ROCK OR A CONVENIENTLY-SHAPED LAMP… BU-"

Sans interrupted him, his tone more frantic now. "aw, come on pap! we ain't got time to waste, right? you wanted to show me your puzzles, right?" Sans winced at himself. Now Papyrus was bound to know something was up. There was a silence between them, Papyrus squinting his eyes to try and see the figure better. After a few moments, he shook his skull.

"YEAH, I GUESS YOU'RE RIGHT."

Sans cheered loudly in his head. He stopped when Papyrus spoke again. "WAIT… IT'S WAVING! SANS, THE SHAPE IS WAVING! I'VE NEVER SEEN A ROCK WAVE BEFORE!" Before Sans could respond, Papyrus broke into a run, running straight towards the distant figure.

 _shit!_

Sans ran after Papyrus, though with a combination of his height and lack of exercise, he easily fell behind him. Sans kept running, praying to whatever god would listen as his feet pounded the freshly-fallen snow.

 _please let him be okay, please, please, please, please!_

"papyrus! can you hear me!?"

The snows started falling even more heavily now, making everything around Sans muddled and unclear. Sans realized with a jolt that he couldn't see anything more than a couple of metres away from him.

"SANS? WHERE ARE YOU? I'M RIGHT HERE! FOLLOW MY VOICE!"

Sans complied, straining his hearing to follow the direction Papyrus's voice was coming from. Sans's breathing came thin and fast. He could barely feel his lungs anymore but he didn't care. Chara wasn't going to hurt his brother. He couldn't let that happen! Suddenly, in front of Sans, a shape that looked distinctly like a skeleton appeared.

"papyrus! papyrus! you there, bro!?" There was an unnerving pause. And then a call back.

"SANS? I'M HERE, YES! AND LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" Sans sighed in relief, slowly walking towards Papyrus' silhouette. He huffed loudly, trying desperately to get his breath back.

"wha… hff… what is it… hff plh… bro?"

Sans looked up, expecting to see Papyrus' bony features looking down at him. However, the grin he was met with was entirely made of snow. Sans's pupils contracted.

 _no…_

"I FOUND… a complete and utter idiot!"

* * *

Sans felt as if he had been frozen to the spot as he heard Papyrus' loud, energetic voice morph into an unnervingly cheery one. The ground in front of the Papyrus snowman shifted, a hole appearing. From the hole, a yellow flower popped out its head, a wide smile slapped on its centre.

"Hi! We haven't been formally introduced! My name is Flowey, Flowey the Flower. You're Sans, right? Chara was just telling me _all_ about you."

Sans' left eye flickered, flames lighting up the area slightly. Flowey smiled wider. It caused shivers to run through Sans' entire body.

"So you remember them, huh? That makes this easier then. Your reaction is _hilarious_ by the way."

"what are you?" Sans asked, gritting his teeth and balling his bony hands into fists. The flower's lop-sided smile became even more crooked.

"I'm so, so, _so_ glad you asked that question! Also, didn't anyone ever tell you not to refer to someone as if they were an object? So rude!"

"shut up! how do you know who i am? how do you know about _them_!?"

"Them? Oh, you mean Chara?" Flowey tilted his head in mock confusion. "Well, that's easy. We're partners! In fact, I knew them even before you did! Back when they were an idiot like you guys. They told me about you all, though I already knew bits and pieces about you anyway." Flowey chuckled, the awful sound reverberating in Sans' skull. "But you don't care about that, right? What you care about is why you're talking to little, old me instead of YOUR LOUD IDIOT OF A BROTHER."

Sans growled as Flowey began mimicking Papyrus' voice again. His eye glowed brighter, flames starting to lick the top of his skull.

"Oh, getting angry now, are we? Don't bother, it's not like _you_ can hurt me anyway."

"and what makes you think i can't?" Sans growled back, his voice low. Talking this flower was making him angrier than he'd ever remembered being.

"Because you're just a dumb, weak idiot! Chara said just as much. You couldn't even do _anything_ when they stabbed you before. You just laid there like a lump and turned to dust! You're weak and useless. I bet you can't even do a basic magic attack, right? Heh, just proves how lazy you really are. Did you just expect your _friends_ to come and always bail you out?"

"i said shut up! where's papyrus!?" Sans demanded as he began to panic again. The longer he talked to this flower, the more likely it became that Chara would do something horrible to his brother.

 _papyrus. i can't let you die._

"Ah, now there's a question! Well, he's with my partner right now. They wanted to keep you out of the picture for a while so they'd have a chance to talk to your brother. I thought it wouldn't work, me distracting you, but lo and behold you fell right for it! Right now, they should be near that hick town you call home." Flowey chuckled again. "Chara'll be waiting for you, I'm sure!" With that, Flowey ducked himself back down the hole he'd appeared from, leaving Sans alone.

The pain from earlier stabbed Sans' skull again, reminding him of its existence. Sans groaned, rubbing his forehead. He didn't have time to be nursing a headache.

 _i have to get there…_

Sans mentally reached inside himself, feeling his limited magic reserves. He imagined the place Flowey had described to him. He'd probably been talking about the small bit of woodland just in front of Snowdin. He kept the image of that place in mind and activated his magic, closing his eyes.

* * *

When San opened them again, he was back at the entrance to Snowdin, behind a row of trees. Immediately, Sans set off, searching for Papyrus and Chara. The snowstorm was much weaker this close to Snowdin and now Sans could see clearly in all directions, for what good it did him.

As he ran, his head continued to pound and his left eye stayed bright, fueling his dread. Eventually, he started hearing voices.

"HUMAN. I AM SURPRISED AND IMPRESSED YOU WERE ABLE TO SURPASS MY PUZZLES SO EASILY! YOU MUST BE A TRUE PUZZLE-MASTER! BUT YOUR JOURNEY SHALL END HERE, FOR I, THE _GREAT PAPYRUS_ , WILL CAPTURE YOU AND BRING YOU TO UNDYNE!"

 _papyrus! you're still alive! thank god._

Sans dashed toward the source of his brother's voice, ignoring the agonizing pain in his lungs and head as he ran along the row of trees. As he neared, he saw Chara and Papyrus, fighting. Bones spun through the air around them, throwing themselves at Chara with a faint blue aura around them. Papyrus had always been more talented than Sans with magic, with levitation and object manipulation being his particular forte. Sans knew from watching Papyrus train that his attacks were numerous, incredibly fast and certainly weren't lacking in strength or control.

However, Chara dodged all Papyrus' attacks like they were nothing, dodging left and right with an inhuman speed. It was like they knew where the bones were going to hit before they even appeared. Sans felt his soul drop into his stomach. Papyrus was a great fighter, but he couldn't keep up his effort forever. And when he slowed down…

Sans called out instinctively.

"papyr-"As he shouted, Chara turned their eyes to meet Sans'. He smiled wolfishly, like they had when they'd killed Sans and suddenly the words clogged in Sans' throat. He felt his bones turn cold and stiffen. His eye flickered out immediately and suddenly Sans was rendered both mute and paralyzed. Was it some kind of magic? No, he couldn't _feel_ anything. Just an abyss of terror. He was literally being _intimidated_ into submission.

Papyrus, unaware of what was happening, continued his attacks, growing visibly more tired by the second. His shoulders drooped and sweat began to bead onto his skull. Chara turned back to him and Sans could clearly hear them as he spoke. They sounded completely unfazed as they continued to dodge.

"Well, Pappy, it's been fun going over old memories with you. But now that the guest of honour has arrived, I think we should start the _real_ show!"

 _the 'real show'. please don't tell me he wanted me to- oh please, please no._ But Sans was unable to turn his head away or shut his eyes.

Chara continued, gradually closing the gap between them and Papyrus. Papyrus, increasingly desperate, increased the pacing of his attacks, tiring himself further. "Hope you don't lose your _head_!"

As Chara finished, they slipped his knife out from under their jumper sleeve. They ran straight at Papyrus, making a single clean swipe at his neck. The knife connected and easily sliced through. Papyrus' eyes contracted, his mouth opening and closing without sound, trying to speak.

'S…ANS' he mouthed.

 _papyrus!_

Papyrus's body quickly began to turn to dust, leaving his, scarf, armor and skull alone on the ground beneath Chara's feet. He continued to mouth at Chara, looking up at them with pleading eyes.

'BUT.. ST-STILL, I BELIEVE IN YOU. YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER. EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO. I… I PROMISE.'

After he finished, Chara raised their foot and, with a final smile, stomped on Papyrus' skull, causing it to explode into fine dust.

 _noooooooooo!_

Sans felt something in his soul die. Tears freely rolled down his skull, falling onto the snow below him.

 _papyrus, you weren't meant to die!_

Chara turned back to Sans, still smiling. They chuckled.

"That's a good expression, Sans. But don't think it's over just yet! After all, I have a whole _Underground_ to destroy!"

Sans could barely hear them. Panic, terror, grief and anger whirled like a tornado in Sans's mind, allowing his instinct to take over. He closed his eyes, his magic flaring and teleporting him away instantly.

Chara continued to smile, whistling happily to themselves as they continued on into Snowdin.

* * *

 **Hello everybody! I hope you guys enjoyed chapter 3 of Sanstale! Chapter 4 should be around shortly, so stay tuned in and continue to be awesome with your rating and feedback! Anyway, onto the announcement, well more of an advertisement really:**

 **As some of you may know, this story has a duplicate copy over on AO3. Lately, I have been thinking of adding features to the story that will enhance the experience for those who wish to use them. The first is recommended listening, which will still happen, to an extent, in this version. The second is that I would love if I could put images in the story. Nothing big or complicated, just still images to represent key moments in each chapter and break up the text a bit. I have been looking around and since no-one has been able to help me yet, I have decided to go public and request an artist to help me out. I sadly cannot pay you if you apply, but I like to think this experience would be good for those who wish to work in an artistic market (or already do) or those who simply want to try their hand with some fanart. If you wish to apply, send me a PM and I will endeavour to message you back as soon as possible. We can talk from there. Anyway, that's my speel, I hope I get some interest!**

 **Thank you guys for being awesome.**

 **~ Caz.**


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